Costa Rica to Spain

Our last two weeks in Costa Rica were the perfect end to our time there. We got about 5 days at the beach in nosara with our friends summer and gabe and Thor kids max and Sophie who were visiting from Colorado, and the time there felt like such a vacation treat! Summer and I did yoga at the retreat hotel next door, our kids went to camp and loved hanging out with each other, and we were within a short walk to a wonderful beach! We soaked up the warm water, knowing that in Tenerife it will be freezing ocean, and had some very special moments. Unfortunately Jacob misjudged the depth of the sand and dove into a wave with shiloh, scalping himself a bit (lucky for him he has a doctor on call who mended the wound and two weeks later it is about healed!).

We came back and although we wavered about if we should send Adira to school since it was such a tough social situation for her, we encouraged her to go without forcing anything and I was proud of her finishing so positively. 

Our last night in Costa Rica we hosted about 5 families for dinner, two American families who moved there a few years ago, a Swedish Bosnian family, a Spanish/french couple and a French canadian.  It was such a lovely evening, we introduced them all to Shabbat and did the prayers, finally drank the 3 bottles of wine in our fridge, and felt full of love and laughter sending us on the way. When I told my mom we were hosting dinner- she said but its your last night do you really wnt to do that! - but it was pretty chill, we made it a pot luck, conversations rolled, kids played, and everyone asked- do you have to leave?  Do we? 

Although we could have stayed here for the rest of our sabbatical, we made the decision to go to Spain, see another way of life.  But it isn't without trepidation.  Things are pretty good here, we have made great connections with people, feel very much a part of the community, shiloh is thriving in school (his teacher came running out to tell jacob that did we know he can read 4th grade level books?) and has made close friends who he is sad to leave, and we dont know exactly what life will be like in Spain but J reminds me that this is how we felt before we left Brooklyn and look at how it turned out? No regrets...

The next question was will we come back- and I do hope so.  For me this has felt similar to how I feel about Fire Island- its my happy place. I love going to Fire Island, and often wish we could spend the summer there. SO how lucky are we to find yet another Happy Place? 

On my final workout class I felt pretty proud of myself- i've been consistently going about 4 days a week- and I started with 5lb weights and was able to do the whole class this morning with 15lb weights! I'm not sure I'll be as consistent with workout the rest of our time but these classes definitely motivated me.

On our final morning as we hung out by the pool and several neighbors passed by to hang out, I kept thinking , I will miss this! The ease of communal living with children is something I’ve craved since becoming a parent. And it really is pretty amazing.  There are definitely challenges that we witnessed and didn’t have to deal with too much, being visitors.  I was struck by the similarities of what my parents always said was both beautiful and challenging about kibbutz…amazing for the young and the old, people care for one another, are in it together, and you definitely have to create a bit of space so you aren’t on top of one another all of the time.

We took an overnight flight to Madrid on a new budget airline iberojet, and I was skeptical but aside from the awful food and the fact that the lights were on until 1030pm and then again at 530am, due to long meal service, it was pretty smooth. Kids were great, and I think it was partially because I bought some dark chocolate and decided that from now on post every flight while waiting for customs ill give them some dark chocolate and say “you did great, this is going to be hard because we are all tired and hungry so let’s eat chocolate and power through” and it worked!

When we landed there was a bit of culture shock. After living in the jungle for 3 months, Western Europe was noticeably different! On the bus between the plane and the airport Adira said “this looks like Israel” and Shiloh replied “you’ve never been to Israel” to which she said “well then it looks like Manhattan”

I also noticed that every time we get to a new Airbnb the kids run around and touch everything and I’m yelling at them and it feels icky! So on the cab ride there I said what can we do so we don’t get in this pattern, and they both agreed “take us to a playground to let out our energy” and so we did!!

Our Airbnb is close to retiro park, which is beautiful this time of year! I walked to the supermarket to buy some snacks and for 20$ I got what would have cost us 40$ in CR! We walked by the Prado and the botanic gardens, stopped for tapas in a small restaurant where I embarrassingly asked for jugo (juice in Spanish in Latin America) but the waitress understood!

Our first morning we had breakfast with our nephew miles who is studying abroad here! Then Jacob and Shiloh left to take a train to Grenada where they will ski for 3 days in Sierra Nevada. And Adira and I had dinner with Ayelet’s old au pair Andrea who lives here!

Our final day in Madrid Adira and I spent at the royal palace, when we left I asked her what did you think did you like it? She said not really, they had too many expensive stuff that they didn’t need…I think my commentary on the opulence set in!

We headed by train the next day to Seville, just 2.5 hours on the train and 30$ each it was a bargain and a joy compared to Amtrak! When we arrived at the station we exited the wrong way, and had to circumnavigate the station with all of the luggage in tow uphill! Before we left Costa Rica we threw out our giant suitcase that I just bought and shipped some things to Canary Islands. But even so we are always feeling like we have too much stuff and I wish we could condense some more! We got to our Airbnb and thanks to the workout classes I did in Costa Rica I was able to carry our bags up three flights of stairs no problem!!

Our first night in Seville we met Becky an and her husband for dinner at a nearby plaza where Adira played in the playground while we ate dinner. Becky is my dear friend Irit’s former roommate from when we were in med school in dc, and although I have fond memories together we hadn’t seen one another in over a decade. she moved to Seville a few years back to be with her husband who is from there. I love meeting different people on our journey and hearing about their thoughts and experiences in the places we are visiting.  I heard about the impact of Airbnb and tourism on the city living prices and the luck we had of coming during such a beautiful time of year before the summer heat!

Adira and I then spent the next two days frolicking around the city with no agenda! It was our first trip like this and I am so proud of her ability to walk all through the city from 9-5 both days! We met a family from
Britain visiting and the mom asked me how I was able to get her to walk all day, the secret I found was good snacks and playground stops along the way! The first day went perfectly because of these tactics.  We watched flamenco in plaza espana, rowed a boat in their manmade canal, rode a horse carriage through the big park and ate a fancy brunch on a plaza. Day 2, we went to the alcazar and then I decided to check out a residential neighborhood out of the center. I’m always interested in what it’s like to live in these places, not just tour them. But we made some wrong turns, walked further than I thought and ran out of snacks by 2pm and still didn’t have lunch so our afternoon was a bit challenging but we made it through! My tactic for day 2 was to buy her a ten dollar flamenco dress and a hat, and she went around saying she was the queen!

After 5 days in cities, I feel appreciative for what they offer but I find myself missing Costa Rica and the peace and quiet of our neighborhood. I miss the sense of safety I felt, which as a woman I never feel in cities. And I’m already craving nature. It will be interesting to see how this feels in Tenerife as we will be in cities but close to nature, and eventually when we return to BK :) 

Here are some lists I made

 Fruits we have picked off trees in our neighborhood: 

Suriname Cherries

Caimito

Jack Fruit

Animals we see in and around our home:

Bats

Capuchin Monkeys

Howler Monkeys

Tarantulas

Scorpions

Toucans (including yellow throated)

Fiery Billed Aracari

Scarlet Macaw

hummingbirds

Silver-Throated Tanager

Vultures

Hawks

Canaries

Iguanas

Lizards

Agoutis

Many bugs and Ants

Places we visited while here:

Osa Peninsula- highlight- best place we visited aside from where we lived!

Manuel Antonio- we felt a bit touristy- but we did see lots of animals

San Jose- enjoyed the children's museum

La Fortuna- beatiful but touristy 

Poas Volcano- we actually didnt see the volcano as it just erupted when we were there!

Jaco Beach- where shiloh surfed and we beached 1 hour from our house

Nosara Beach- great surfer town with a hamptons meet the jungle feel

Family Exit Interview from CR:

1 thing that surprised you about CR:

1 thing that disappointed you about CR:

Favorite things about living here:

What you miss most about Brooklyn: Running in the park, the food

What you do NOT miss about Brooklyn:

What will you miss when we leave here:

What are you most excited about in Spain: